The present invention relates to a pallet wrap and, more particularly, to a novel reusable, rollable wrap for securing items stacked on a pallet.
Conventionally, soft drink bottlers stack bottles and cans containing soft drinks on wooden pallets in preparation for transportation to grocery stores and other vendors. The bottles and cans are generally secured to the pallet on which they are stacked by means of a self-adhering plastic shrink wrap material which comes in a roll. A worker typically walks around the pallet unrolling the plastic wrap by hand and winding it around a stack of items on the pallet numerous turns in order to secure the items onto the pallet for transportation. It takes approximately forty-five seconds to complete this process. The pallet with the bottles and cans so wrapped may then be transported by a forklift or electric pallet jack for loading or unloading on a truck. Because the wrapped portion is not integral with or connected to the pallet base, it is generally necessary for the worker to run a strap midway around these plastic wrapped pallets from the sides of the truck bed. This, of course, increases loading time.
Once the pallet is transported to its ultimate destination, the plastic wrap is removed by cutting it with a razor thereby rendering it unusable for further use. It is impractical to attempt to unwrap the plastic wrap instead of cutting it, because during the wrapping process the plastic material adheres to itself and often becomes twisted or partially torn.
The obvious disadvantage with this conventional method of securing items on a pallet is that the wrap is not reusable. A typical bottling operation in a large city may expend over $50,000.00 per year on plastic pallet wrap. Thus, use of plastic pallet wrap is not only very costly, but also results in substantial environmental waste.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel wrap for securing items stacked on a pallet which is reusable thereby reducing costs and eliminating environmental waste associated with the conventional plastic shrink wrap.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wrap for securing items stacked on a pallet which is sturdy in construction, but yet simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.
A further object of the invention is to provide a pallet wrap which is easily and compactly stored.
Yet another object of the invention is to reduce the amount of time that it takes to install the wrap about the pallet.
A further object of the invention is to reduce the amount of time it takes to load the pallets onto the trucks for transportation.
A preferred embodiment of the proposed apparatus of the invention includes a rectangular pallet having an upper, horizontal load supporting surface spaced apart from a lower, horizontal ground-contacting surface. Extending about the perimeter of the pallet is a flexible sheet having ends which are secured together by detachable means, such as a zipper. A plurality of parallel, stiff, elongate corner support members are secured to the flexible sheet at spaced-apart intervals therealong between the ends of the sheet. One set of ends of the support members surroundingly engages the corners of the pallets, with the members thereby defining the shape of the wrap above the pallet. The apparatus further includes releasable fastener means having one part mounted on the sheet adjacent one end of the sheet and a second mating part mounted on the sheet spaced along the length of the sheet from the first part. The fastener means secures the sheet to itself when the wrap is in a rolled condition for storage.
In operation, the pallet is first stacked with items, such as bottles and/or cans. When the items are stacked on the pallet and ready for transportation, the fastener means on the wrap is then released and the wrap is unrolled from its stored condition. While unrolling, the worker walks around the perimeter of the pallet, establishing a corner support member at each corner of the pallet. Once all four corner support members are properly positioned, the ends of the flexible sheet are then secured to each other by the detachable means. The pallet is then ready to be transported by the forklift or electric pallet jack for loading on the truck. The items are thereby efficiently secured to the pallet due to the fact that the wrap completely encloses the items about the pallet.
With the construction described, it can be seen that the wrap may be quickly and easily installed about the pallet.
It can also be appreciated from the construction described that the unloading operation can easily and rapidly be effected merely by releasing the detachable means, rolling the flexible sheeting about the support members and securing the sheeting to itself by activating the fastener means. Furthermore, because the sheet is flexible, it is possible to obtain a tight roll.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly understood from a consideration of drawings and the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment.